The relationship between the collegiate church and the town of Aschaffenburg

The collegiate church newly founded in the middle of the 10th century was a centre of attraction for craftsmen and merchants who settled in Aschaffenburg and served the demand of the wealthy canons. As a result, the town soon became an economic and religious centre, which developed increasingly urban structures under the rule of the archbishops of Mainz and especially from the High Middle Ages onwards. Important stages in this process were, for example, the construction of a new bridge over the Main during the reign of Archbishop Willigis (c. 940-1011, archbishop from 975) and the construction and expansion of the fortifications in the 12th century. At the end of the same century, Aschaffenburg was finally granted the town charter (there is no surviving document about this event). There is documentary evidence of a market (forum) as early as 1144, which was located on today’s Stiftsplatz.

The main market, which was an important source of income due to the stall and market money levied, was divided into two halves, one belonging to the collegiate church, the other to the town. This division into two led to repeated disputes between the two parties throughout the Middle Ages and beyond. In 1526, for example, the citizens complained to the archbishop that the collegiate church showed preference to merchants and traders from outside the town rather than local ones when awarding right to set up stalls (Liber V. camerae, fol. 10-11).

The market is just one of many examples that reflect the often ambivalent relationship between the collegiate church and the town, as well as the role of the archiepiscopal ruler of the town as a mediating authority. Although the economic development of Aschaffenburg was strongly favoured by the collegiate church’s economic, financial and cultural position, the municipality’s growing aspirations for emancipation that went hand in hand with this repeatedly led to conflicts with the canons.